Agents miffed about NFLPA fee hike

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2014, 1:42 PM EST

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It about to get even more expensive to be an NFLPA agent. And some NFLPA agents aren’t happy about it.

In a memo sent on Monday from the NFLPA to its agents, a copy of which PFT has obtained, the union tells agents that the annual fee will increase by $300 per year. It moves from $1,200 to $1,500 annually for agents with fewer than 10 clients and from $1,700 to $2,000 per year for agents with 10 or more clients.

The new fee becomes due at the start of the fiscal year, on October 1. The memo explains that the increase, the first since 2000, arises from the cost of maintaining the agent regulation system and upgrades to the NFLPA website that will make it easier for agents to conduct salary research.

Said one agent, “Are you f–king kidding me with this?”

We’ll interpret that as an objection to the increase. Of course, the only alternative to paying the increased amount is to stop being an NFLPA-certified agent.

Why doesn’t the NFLPA just hire it’s own agents, and then make it’s clients chose from this pool of agents? If they (the NFLPA/Players/Agents) are all in it for the same reasons, shouldn’t be an issue right?

My God how will multimillionaire agents ever survive paying $1200 to $1700 more per year. According to conservative economic ethos they’ll just pass that increase of doing business onto the client anyway.

Yeah, that’s very understandable that they’d be upset because if you are an agent and get your 3% commission on a player’s league minimum, you only get $12,600 for signing 1 player. That is the league minimum and there is almost nothing to negotiate since the last collective bargaining agreement–maybe the guarantee and over what span of time you get your bonus. It must take nearly 20 minutes to work all that out (except for the tiny sliver of draftees who truly are exceptional–that might take a little longer).

There is more work for the agent to do as the players become more experienced, but by that point, you are talking about 3% of $6-25 million. I don’t think anybody is going to be crying for the agents.

I would love to find out what exactly the NFLPA does service wise for players for all the money they charge players and agents. It always seems to me that they are on the NFL to provide everything for the players past and present while we don’t get to find out what they do for their actual members. I would imagine that if they were providing a great value for the dollar, they’d be bragging about that, right?

Unions are a joke! Served a purpose at one time now that time is gone. Now they are just joke that make a select few wealthy off the backs of others.

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Right. We’re doing great without unions. Work hard, play by the rules and get good wages, employer paid health care, a defined benefit pension plan, paid holidays and vacations, weekends off and sick leave pay.

The problem with this is what about the agents that do not have the top draft picks signed. They spend more money to be just an agent and the small contract they have doesn’t pay enough to stay in the business. it forces those guys out and builds a platform for just the wealthy, as every other platform does in the US